A Manual of Needlework and Cutting Out

February 19, 2019

...Please enjoy this manual of the lost art of hand sewing by Agnes Walker published in 1907 and recommended by YouTube sewing sensation Bernadette Banner. What makes the book useful is that, unlike a lot of sewing resources, there’s not a lot of assumed knowledge. The book also shows the high level of craftsmanship expected of young children before the great crappening of the mid-20th century....

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Least Favorite Plant: Yellow Oleander (Thevetia peruviana)

Mr. Homegrown

June 2, 2009

Least Favorite Plant

31 Comments

Thumbing through a book of toxic and hallucinogenic plants, I finally manged to i.d. the neighbor’s shrub that looms over the staircase to our front door. The popular name given for this plant in the book was “suicide tree”, so named for its use in Sri Lanka, though I’ve found other plants with this same moniker. The scientific name is Thevetia peruviana, and it’s also known as “lucky nut” (can we change that to unlucky nut please?), Be Still Tre...

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Salt Sugar Fat

Mr. Homegrown

March 4, 2014

Reviews

21 Comments

...g and the lifestyle it expounds come off as too extreme. But then I read a book like Michael Moss’ Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, and I begin to think it’s not extreme enough. Salt Sugar Fat is a history of the marketing of junk foods. Moss’ sources are a mix of food scientists and disenchanted former food executives–most of whom, of course, are wealthy men with personal trainers who never eat the unhealthy foods they marketed. The...

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Saturday Tweets: Cheap Heaters, Paper Airplanes and Lost Ornaments

Mr. Homegrown

November 7, 2015

Saturday Linkages

3 Comments

...ps://t.co/n4IvJEytGn — Root Simple (@rootsimple) November 3, 2015 Gorgeous book of paper airplanes collected by anthropologist Harry Smith https://t.co/GFtA3w8rUO — Root Simple (@rootsimple) November 3, 2015 It’s time for food justice in Ramona Gardens https://t.co/SoXTBK27L0 — Root Simple (@rootsimple) November 3, 2015 Beautiful, free/open 3D printed book of lost Louis H. Sullivan architectural ornaments https://t.co/IPgqsjSELq — Root Simple (@ro...

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Our Amazon Problem

Mr. Homegrown

August 24, 2015

Thoughtstylings

52 Comments

..., a few questions I have: If we were to start self-publishing short how-to books would you want them in an inexpensive ebook format or would you be willing to pay more for a physical book? Do you think we should cut all ties with Amazon? How many of you have gone as far as Hopkins and have deleted your personal Amazon account? Would you be willing to support us through donations? How about online classes? What subjects would you want us to tackle?...

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